A young woman on a mission! by Anne Ryland

A young woman on a mission!

he shouts, squinting at me as I run

through early haze along the ramparts.

True, sixty-two years of age, I’ve further to travel.

It could’ve been the trumpeted On yer way, m’lady!

or worse, that giant shaggy grey hound

bounding up to nuzzle my thighs,

owner barking He just thinks you’re his prey!

Surely targets don’t run towards their predators.

Here’s Trev, striding, smiling Y’alright?,

his elderly chocolate Labradors trailing.

Tempted to stop, confide in him:

as a small child, chased by an unleashed dog –

my mother frantic, no power in her arms to lift me –

it bit my leg. For weeks, we hid indoors.

Out on the street. Fortified bra, frizzed hair,

running – we provoke comment, my body and I.

Retorts, a waste of breath. River-gazing pace;

frugal with its resources, my body knows more

than I know, my body is the reply:

roving, unravelling, to the horizon

where a woman and a ruin can flourish,

crossing grass, sand, mudflats – that is the mission. Anne Ryland’s third collection is Unruled Journal (Valley Press). Autumnologist was

shortlisted for The Forward Prize for Best First Collection. New work has been published in journals including Long Poem Magazine, Magma, Crannóg and Empty House (US), and

nominated for Best of the Net. Based in Northumberland, she leads poetry workshops and is an unhurried member of her local running club. https://anneryland.co.uk